2. Contact Info

3. Dealer Selection

The mid-cycle refresh for the 2013 Ford Taurus couldn’t come at a better time. It’s been decades since the Taurus was a showroom superstar, and grabbing consumer attention at Ford dealers is about to get harder with the arrival of the mega-hyped 2013 Fusion. (When was the last time a Ford was compared to an Aston Martin?)

If that weren’t enough, the full-size sedan segment is heating up, with the all-new Toyota Avalon and Chevy Impala soon to join the recently re-launched Hyundai Azera. Those three cars will prove tough competition for the Taurus, especially in the styling department. Cosmetic updates to the 2013 Taurus include redesigned LED taillights and a sharper, more aggressive front clip. Our tester was also fitted with 20-inch polished aluminum rims that fill out the wheel wells nicely. While the Taurus doesn’t have the Azera’s fluidic sheetmetal flash or the Avalon’s gaping grille, it does have presence. With an overall height of 5 feet, the Taurus is just 9 inches shy of your author. Lengthwise, the large Ford manages to stretch more than 5 inches past the Explorer and an inch past the Flex.

The interior is a different story. In fact, the midsize 2013 Fusion matches or exceeds the Taurus in a few interior dimensions. Rear shoulder and headroom are identical in both cars, and the Fusion offers 3 more inches of front legroom than its bigger sibling. So what gives? In most cases, interior volume is limited by a car’s wheelbase, and the Taurus’ wheelbase is less than an inch longer than the new Fusion’s. To be clear, passengers who rode in the Taurus during our test never felt cramped, but most expected more room to stretch their legs. If the Taurus were a city, it’d be Reno, Nevada, “The Biggest Little City in the World.”

It’s an impressive list, but I was most eager to spend quality time with MyFord Touch, which was recently updated to address quality glitches. The system responded relatively fast to inputs; voice command was usually spot on; and the layout on the touch screen and instrument panel only took a few minutes to figure out. I especially dug the satellite radio’s “Alert” feature, which lets you know when you favorite song or band is playing on another station. Everything was perfect until it happened: a glitch. All I requested was a simple navigation waypoint destination, but MyFord Touch decided it had had enough. A dramatic temper tantrum ensued with an erratically flashing touch screen, frozen buttons, the cancellation of my route guidance, and the deletion of my satellite radio presets. Powering the system off and on again fixed the software demons. Once all the bugs are sorted, MyFord Touch could be among the best infotainment systems on the market.

If a quiet ride is important to you, the Taurus won’t disappoint. Engineers reworked the car to further reduce NVH, and it seems to have paid off. It’s possible to hold conversations using whisper voices, even at highway speeds. The new-for-2013 Torque Vectoring Control improves the Taurus’ cornering agility by applying light brake pressure to the inside wheel through the curves, making it a decent performer through twisty roads.

Even bigger news is the availability of Ford’s 2.0-liter EcoBoost turbocharged four-cylinder engine (240 hp, 270 lb-ft of torque), but our tester was fitted with the base 3.5-liter V-6, which is now rated at 288 hp and 254 lb-ft (up 25 hp and 5 lb-ft). Still, we quickly discovered the limitations of the Taurus’s 4215-pound curb weight when pushing it to the limit at the track. Accelerating from 0-60 mph took 7.2 seconds and the quarter mile was completed in 15.5 seconds at 92.3 mph. Rounding off the tests was a figure-eight time of 27.7 seconds at 0.63 g and a 60-0 mph stopping distance of 120 feet.

If you want to cut some time off the 0-60 mph time (and you live in sunnier climes), we’d ditch all-wheel drive and go for the front-drive model, which we also drove and tested. The front-drive Taurus with the same V-6 completes the 0-60 mph sprint in 6.6 seconds, though it feels much faster than the time suggests. Better yet, the front-drive Taurus is 264 pounds lighter and costs $1850 less than the all-wheel-drive model.

Speaking of price, our all-wheel-drive tester carried a sticker price of $41,230, a lot of coin but not surprising, considering almost every option box was checked. If you don’t mind a more modest Taurus, a FWD SEL model is almost $10,000 cheaper and still provides key niceties such as leather seats and MyFord Touch. At that price, the Taurus stacks up well with its peers, including the Azera, which starts around $33,000. As it stands, the Taurus is a solid choice if you want a big (on the outside, anyway), extremely quiet, and reasonably equipped sedan. Just make sure you avoid checking out the 2013 Fusion when you walk into the Ford dealership.

Safety (IIHS)

2013 Ford Taurus News and Reviews

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